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Old 08-12-2008, 06:43 PM   #8
Bill
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Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
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Mr. Adventure posted
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In round numbers, 8500 pounds GCWR less a 4700 pound curb weight is 3800 pounds. That will need to cover all of what you load into/onto/behind the vehicle: People, trailer, fuel, dogs, souveneirs, Pepsi, household goods, luggage, etc.
He and I tend to cross swords over the tow rating issue, and that's OK. We're slowly meeting in the middle, and this thread is a good example. But I'd like to rephrase his comments a bit more strongly, just to be sure they are clear. As the Chrysler web site will tell you, your tow vehicle is rated at 3500 pounds towing capacity. As the web site will also tell you (but well covered by weasel wording and the asterisks and footnotes), the tow rating assumes one driver, no passengers, no factory options on the tow vehicle, no aftermarket options, and no cargo in the vehicle. Every time you add one of these, you must subtract the weight of those items from the tow rating. It is quite common to see a tow rating of 3500 pounds reduced to 2800 pounds by the addition of 700 pounds of stuff to the tow vehicle (your hubby, your rock collection, a couple big dogs, tanks of water, tools, luggage, the car's air conditioner, that sun roof and the third row seats, and so forth) in the tow vehicle. Now with a 2800 pound tow capacity, the situation becomes really limited. As Mr Adventure says, if you don't tow much and you stay on level ground, you may have a good experience. If you go to the mountains, experience steep grades and high altitudes, you may not. And if you have a failure, and after getting through the inconvenience of a failure on the road, you apply for a warranty repair, and if the dealer finds out you have been towing, you may have a problem with reimbursement. Your choice, your risk. The safety issues of moderate overloading are a separate issue, which haven't been addressed in this thread.

A tough choice. Good luck with it.

Bill
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